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Mauer Power 8.15

Posted: August 15th, 2009 | Filed under: Baseball | 25 Comments »

Joe Mauer with a 3-for-3 day against Cleveland and the batting average is now .375. He has to go 81 for 181 the rest of the way to hit .400.

I don’t know how long I’m going to keep this Mauer update going … but this might become a daily thing for the rest of the season for one reason and one reason alone: It is beginning to appear that Mauer, having perhaps the most remarkable season in the history of the world, might get screwed out of the MVP Award. And if that happens … well we can’t let it happen. We just can’t let it happen.

My e-migo Rob Neyer has already hit upon this but the New York Times’ Tyler Kepner — a delightful fellow and fine baseball writer — tweeted last night: “By the way, this is probably obvious by now, but Teixeira’s the AL MVP. No question, as Joe Torre would say.”

Uh … OK, look. I love New York. I really do. It’s one of my three favorite cities in the world. And I love how, because there’s such an overpowering energy in New York, everything that happens there takes on this enormous feel. The tabloids splash huge headlines. The news tickers across giant video boards in Times Square and can be overheard in coffee shops and five star hotels and taxi cabs. I get it and love it. So when Mark Teixeira hits what turns out to be a game-deciding home run against Seattle in what anyone else would consider a fairly meaningless August game, it can become instant legend in New York. And people in New York will tweet “Probably obvious by now, but Teixeira’s the AL MVP.”

Never mind that there is not a single thing that Mark Teixeira has done as well as Joe Mauer this year. Not one thing. Never mind that Mauer’s batting average is 87 points higher, his on-base percentage is 59 points higher, his slugging percentage is 57 points higher, his OPS+ is 40 points higher and he’s a freaking CATCHER, and a good one, while Teixera’s a first baseman*.

*I was about to say, “and a good one” because Teixeira was an excellent defensive first baseman in 2008 by all the numbers. But did you know that he has a minus-UZR this year, and his Dewan plus/minus is way down?

Look, could you make a case for Mark Teixeira over Joe Mauer? Well, you could make a case for anything. You could say that Mauer missed the first month of the season — so Teixeira has about 120 more plate appearances. You could say that the Yankees are going to the playoffs and the Twins are not unless they make a late season rush that looks more and more unlikely. But it sure seems to me that we need to start jabbing holes in this Teixeira MVP thing before it becomes a fait accompli.

Joe Mauer is having a much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much better season than Mark Teixeira. I’m not sure I put enough muches in there. Mauer is on pace to win his THIRD batting title as a catcher — and no other American League catcher has ever won even one. He leads the league in on-base percentage AND slugging percentage, the two most important stats going, and the only catcher to ever do that in baseball history was … oh, wait, nobody. He throws out base runners and hits .395 with runners in scoring position (hits .457 with runners in scoring position and two outs) and even runs the bases well.

Obviously, we have to see how the last month and a half goes — this thing could certain shift. But up to this point, I find it almost impossible to believe that a sensible baseball person could say Mark Teixeira has been as valuable a baseball player as Joe Mauer.

Mauer to date
344 at-bats
129 hits
Batting average: .375 average.

What he’s got to do the rest of the way
181 at-bats
81 hits
Batting average: .448

Final numbers
525 at-bats
210 hits
Batting average: .400

A must read article for any Twins fans. Joe Posnanski is one of the most respected baseball writers and I hope those writers with MVP votes read this article.